SCIENCE CENTERS TO FOSTER COLLABORATION
PHOTOGRAPHY © Warren Jagger Photography © Chuck Choi Photography
Featured Projects
Northeastern University Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex
Boston University Rajen Kilachand Center for Life Sciences and Engineering
Tufts University Science and Engineering Complex
“When students first walk into the newest building at Northeastern University, they sometimes utter an audible “Wow.” The students get it right. This is a five-star piece of architecture.” ROBERT CAMPBELL, THE BOSTON GLOBE
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering Complex
Flow and Movement define the form language of this building. Dynamic movement systems permeate the project, expand a campus and bridge two Boston neighborhoods. The architectural form is intrinsically linked with high performance architecture through parametric design and energy modeling.
Boston, MA | Completed: 2017 | 236,000 GSF
Form Language The sloping ground plane is defined by paths and clusters of spaces leading to the track crossing. The language of the paving flows in to the flooring of the atrium. Flanking the atrium are the lab bar and office pod. The lab bar is a glass volume wrapped in a thermal overcoat, which is expressed with ribbed metal panels and screens. The glass volume of the office pod is shaded by a curved bronze solar veil that flows along the sloped landscape edge. Extending the language of the veil, the guard panels on the pedestrian bridge will be articulated by layered sheets of weathering steel.
Composite image with Phase 1 building and Phase 2 pedestrian bridge and landscape (est. completion: 2018)
PEDX GUARD PANELS
SKYLIGHT THERMAL OVERCOAT SOLAR VEIL LAB BAR OFFICE POD
ATRIUM
ACCESSIBLE LANDSCAPE PATH
Integrated Design A detailed parametric model was developed that, together with custom compositing software, allowed the design team to perform iterative simulations that accurately predicted solar performance of the curved screen. This then allowed the team to optimize the profile, form and performance of the sunshade system. Integrating the design model directly with the fabrication model allowed the complex elements to be unitized and prefabricated for rapid on-site installation.
Energy Recovery and Conservation
103 kbtu /sf per year in energy use intensity
75% energy savings over typical lab
33% energy cost savings over code
30-55% reduction in LPD achieved with high efficiency LED light fixtures
40% reduction in water usage
62% cumulative shading reduction
78% peak solar heat gain reduction
SUNSHADES
LAB EXHAUST / HEAT RECOVERY
SOLAR WALL INTAKE SKYLIGHT
AIR SUPPLY
CASCADE AIR INTAKE
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TYPICAL UPPER FLOOR PLAN 1 Atrium 2 Lab Write-up Zone 3 Open Research Lab 4 Lab Support / Equipment 5 Computational Research 6 Conference Room 7 Communicating Stair 8 Office 9 Solar Veil 10 Thermal Overcoat
Layered Transparency Orienting the research labs inward to face the atrium reinforces the sense of community and places the science on display to foster a collaborative research culture that is a radical shift from typical research facilities. Glazed walls allow unobstructed views through the research spaces while separating the high and low energy use zones, reducing the volume of ventilated research space to dramatically reduce the building energy usage.
GARAGE
SUPPORT HIGH ENERGY
OPEN LAB HIGH ENERGY
ATRIUM
WRITE-UP LOW ENERGY
“I urge developers in our city to shoot for this world-class design, to match our world-class innovation in our city.” MARTIN J. WALSH, MAYOR OF BOSTON
“I’m convinced that this research center is going to be the frontrunner. I believe from the bottom of my heart that this will become one of the leading research institutes on the planet.” RAJEN KILACHAND, BU TODAY
BOSTON UNIVERSITY Rajen Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences and Engineering
With a compact footprint and prominent location on Boston’s famed Commonwealth Avenue, this interdisciplinary research building brings together life scientists, engineers and physicians to study systems neuroscience, cognitive neuroimaging and biological design.
Boston, MA | Completed: 2017 | 170,000 GSF
At Once Crystalline and Opaque The building’s reflective glass skin is articulated with a tightly-spaced pattern of ultra-thin, high-performance concrete fins. When viewed in the oblique, where there is little or no visible gap between each pair of fins, the façade appears entirely solid. As one approaches, however, these gaps progressively increase until the fins recede entirely. This unusual phenomenon has the effect of radically altering one’s visual experience of the building, which oscillates between crystalline and opaque.
WEST
SOUTH
EAST
NORTH
Two Faรงade Types in One Material A repetitive system of ultra-thin, high performance concrete fins and panels articulate the building's highly restrained skin.
CORNER Fin becomes flat panel
TRANSITION Face of fin removed
PLINTH Fin received by stone
Upside Down Building In section, all of the building’s mechanical and electrical infrastructure is located on the second and third floors, rather than in a penthouse on the roof (where visible from the street) or in a basement (where susceptible to flood damage from sea level rise). This unusual strategy gives the research floors better views by lifting them above neighboring buildings.
CONVENTIONAL APPROACH Mechanical equipment distributed between tall rooftop penthouse & basement.
ALTERNATIVE APPROACH (DESIGN) Eliminate basement to ensure survivability. Eliminate penthouse to give lab floors higher views.
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Main Lobby and Colloquium
4 Pocket Park
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Commons
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Side Lobby
5 Rear Courtyard
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Street Level Campus Amenities
Lab Zones of Varying Intensity The upper research floors are designed for targeted research flexibility. Instead of a conventional “one-size-fits-all” approach to lab program distribution, a layered strategy was implemented on each floor by creating low, medium and high intensity zones. This allows for low intensity program spaces, like computational labs and offices, and high intensity program spaces, including high performance instrumentation, to be located on the same floor without incurring an “energy penalty.”
HIGH ENERGY CORE LAB
MEDIUM INTENSITY LAB SUPPORT MEDIUM INTENSITY OPEN LABORATORY LOW ENERGY DESK / WRITE-UP
Versatile Chassis Accommodates Wide Range of Research 11 9
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LEVEL ONE — IMAGING
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1 Research Lab
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2 Graduate Students 3 Interaction
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4 Private Office 5 Lab Support
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6 Core Lab 7 Testing Room 8 Conference
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9 Lobby
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10 Colloquium Room 11 Commons
LEVEL FOUR — BIOLOGICAL DESIGN
12 Neuroimaging Center 13 Building Support 2
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LEVEL SEVEN — EXPERIMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE
0’ 10’ 25’
50’
100’
Sustainable High Performance Lab
72% less energy usage than average building = annual energy of 574 homes
45% reduction in building water usage = 5,479 bathtubs
27% reduction in stormwater run-off
29% reduction in lighting energy usage
33% reduction in Lighting Power Density
91% of regularly occupied spaces have external views
“The new complex is designed to facilitate interactions of students and faculty across disciplines. The spaces in the building are deliberately flexible to accommodate new ideas.” ANTHONY P. MONACO, PRESIDENT, TUFTS UNIVERSITY
TUFTS UNIVERSITY Science and Engineering Complex
A delicate glass box floats effortlessly between two historic red brick bookends. Its taut skin cradles and reflects its surroundings, complements the brick and lends quiet dignity to the existing buildings. The contingent forms shape a nested series of interior and exterior spaces that heighten awareness of the existing buildings.
Medford, MA | Completed: 2017 | 177,000 GSF
Hinge Block The project is prominently located on the “Hinge Block” site. This triangular site mitigates a 40’ grade change located in the heart of the campus that is a key crossroads of existing engineering facilities and new development along the University’s Technology Corridor, a string of laboratories, classrooms and collaboration spaces dedicated to supporting STEM education and research. The SEC’s unique positioning creates multiple avenues of approach, channeling foot traffic from major pedestrian routes as students and faculty move through campus. The spaces between the existing buildings become as important as their prominent public faces, generating an animated campus system of movement that highlights science with a simple, transparent, elegant architectural expression.
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A Sanctuary for Study Within the building, collaboration spaces are integrated on every floor and at multiple scales. Aided by building geometry and site topography, the spaces, at times, take center stage as a vibrant café, or pool at the ends of corridors as places of quiet reflection. At the crossroads of each floor, a central living room serves as meeting and break out space for the adjacent research neighborhoods. The project’s sloping site enables entrances on multiple floors, creating an easy walk-up building and giving undergraduate students the dream opportunity of inhabiting research floors.
ENGINEERING
OFFICES
MATH
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RE TE SE
ROOM
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LIVING
ACH IN
RESEARCH TEACHING LABS
ATRIUM
SOCIAL LAB
CLASSROOMS
Restoring Robinson Hall Built in 1893, Robinson Hall, with its wood frame, load bearing masonry structure and low floor-to-floor height, was ill-suited to support forward-thinking interdisciplinary research space. However, the historic structure was well-suited to house faculty offices and collaboration spaces; their low energy footprint requiring minimal mechanical systems, as well as engineering maker space which thrives in a raw, shop-like setting. As part of the approach to restoration, the entire envelope was thermally improved and the interior painstakingly deconstructed to reveal the building’s essence characterized by a tactile brick wall linking all floors, a tapestry of the building’s century of use.
BIOLOGY AUDITORIUM
MAKERSPACE
ENGINEERING
FUTURE MAKERSPACE WOOD JOIST AND TONGUE AND GROOVE FLOOR STRUCTURE
EXTENT OF CENTER WALL / MASONRY STRUCTURE
Portals As a function of leveraging individual buildings to their highest and best use, the project employs a full spectrum of architectural solutions, including minimal code and life safety upgrades, light touch renovations, strategic interventions, whole building transformation and new construction. In order to bring cohesion and legibility to what would otherwise be a chaotic juxtaposition of old and new, a series of wood portals are strategically located along major circulation routes throughout the complex. Through their uniform materiality and thoughtful detailing, the portals function like acupuncture, stitching together diverse settings while serving as wayfinding devices for building occupants and giving each department an address and front door. In addition to their function as physical threshold, the portals also serve as visual frames linking like-minded programs across the atrium, heightening one’s awareness of old and new, and blurring the boundary between interior and exterior.
Teaching & Transparency On the ground level, public spaces commingle with undergraduate teaching laboratories around a glass atrium, which provides a strong visual connection to the upper level research laboratories. Active science is on display through a layered approach to transparency which fosters chance encounters and enables 82% of program spaces to have direct access to natural light.
Sustainable Design
112 kbtu /sf per year in energy use intensity, which is equal to the energy use of 606 homes
77% reduction in energy use
30% reduction in lighting power density
82% of the building is daylit
93% of building occupants have individual lighting controls
57% reduction in water for landscape irrigation
32% reduction in water use, which is equal to 1,165 bathtubs of water
81% of the wood is sustainability harvested
TEACHING & RESEARCH NEIGHBORHOODS
ATRIUM / CAFE / COMMONS
ROBINSON & ANDERSON HALLS
A Battery Pack of Teaching and Research Neighborhoods Recharges Existing Buildings
ROBINSON
ANDERSON UP
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UP
3 2 UP
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7 C
5 6
3 5 6
BROMFIELD PEARSON
GROUND LEVEL
63 SP
9 '1 DN
1 Future Maker Space
83 UP
3 P
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83 UP
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DN
DN
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2 Engineering / Research 3 Core Facility 4 Computation 5 Shared Support
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6 Teaching Labs
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7 Atrium / Cafe 11
8 Auditorium
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9 Offices UP
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10 Maker Space 11 Research Neighborhoods 12 Living Room 13 Engineering Classrooms
LEVEL TWO 6' SD
6' SD
6' SD
/(9(/ LEVEL 2
'UDZLQJ 6FDOH Drawing Scale 1/8" = 1'-0"
'DWH ,VVXHG Date Issued 01/26/2015
